SC Inmate Labor Scandal Could Spread

DID OTHER SOUTH CAROLINA OFFICIALS USE PRISON LABOR FOR PRIVATE WORK?

Saluda County (S.C.) Sheriff Jason Booth may not be the only elected official in the Palmetto State to be ensnared by a brewing inmate labor scandal.

Booth was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month for using an inmate on loan from the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDOC) to do building work at his private residence over a five-year period ending in late 2011. He resigned his office the same day he was indicted.

But is Booth the only public figure mixed up in all of this? Are there other prominent South Carolina officials who used prison workers for personal projects?

Sources familiar with the grand jury deliberations in this case tell FITS that at least one member of the S.C. General Assembly as well as a local solicitor appear to have also availed themselves of prison labor – and may have even used the same inmate that Booth used. In fact we’re told that the lawmaker linked to this scandal is aggressively “working to lock down the grand jury to avoid any trouble.”